The invention relates to an apparatus for actuating a variety of interchangeable surgical instruments, more particularly for anastomosis (i.e parting, closing and connecting) of hollow organs.
Known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,468 is a surgical suture stapler including a reusable unit made up of a handle part and shank part as well as a mountable disposable head unit. This instrument comprises a pistol-type handle part and a straight shank part which cannot be separated from each other. The shank part is configured as a rigid, straight tube.
A mountable disposable head unit in the form of the suture stapler comprising suture staples, a staple ejector, a circular scalpel, a mandrel as well as an anvil is secured to the distal end of the shank part by means of a bayonet lock or a threaded connector.
Known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,661 is a suture stapler in which neither the shank nor the head is separable from the handle part and shank part respectively. Merely an anvil and a pin can be separated from the shank part. Furthermore the handle part cannot be disassembled and the whole instrument is devised exclusively for once-only use.
The known suture stapler, like other non-reusable surgical instruments, has various disadvantages which have proved to be nuisance in actual practice, although not each and every one of these instruments has all of the disadvantages as listed in the following, they usually having, however, several of these disadvantages at the same time.
The known instruments generally are too heavy, some of these instruments requiring for their actuation excessive operating forces and/or failing to incorporate feedback information means, for example, in the form of "stapling or cut performed". Non-reusable circular instruments involve high costs simply from the fact that they can only be used once and then need to be disposed of.